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Matthew Murdock
" I can't read your heartbeat-- And I don't know if that means you've perfected lying-- Or if you just don't know the difference anymore. Please leave while I'm unsure." Character Stat Sheet Public Information Matt Murdock is one of those inspirational stories you read about in the paper sometimes. Son of a struggling pro boxer, blinded in an accident, but still manages to make good get through law school and then instead of heading to some big firm downtown comes back to the old neighbourhood, Hell's Kitchen, to help out. Good guy that one. Daredevil is the Man Without Fear, the red clad protector of the streets of Hell's Kitchen and the frequent enemy of Bullseye and The Kingpin, while still a vigilante to the cops, he is loved by the people of Hell's Kitchen. Background Matt Murdock was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, an especially rough neighborhood of New York City that Matt, nevertheless, grew to love. He was told his mother died in childbirth, not knowing that she had, in fact, left him and her father, going on the run from her own troubles and eventually settling into hiding as a nun. His father, "Battlin' Jack" Murdock made his living as a boxer, a palooka with plenty of talent and tough, but never seemed to quite pull it together in the big fights. Still, he kept trying, pulling in enough from his fights and his work training other boxers to at least keep Matt in school and well fed, even if their apartment sometime seemed the size of a birdcage. Matt inherited some of his father's wildness, his raw joie de vivre, and often uncooped himself from that cage of an apartment to run the streets of Hell's Kitchen. Matt hated to be taunted or teased, and would accept any dare to prove his mettle, often performing dangerous stunts at the behest of the neighborhood bullies (and earning himself the nickname "Daredevil"). That he ended up with more than his share of bruises and broken bones along the way never bothered him. Then, one day, Matt saw an old woman crossing the street, right into the path of a transport truck. Matt ran into the street to push the woman out of the way and the truck rolled, trying to stop, and the chemical tanks it carried burst open, spraying Matt in the eyes with a mutagenic mixture of chemicals that would change his life forever. The first and most obvious change became obvious in the hospital: Matt was blinded for life. Matt stuck close to his Dad as he adjusted, trying not to be a burden and putting on a positive attitude for the old man. Matt's hospital bills put Jack badly in debt, though, and local gangsters started putting the screws to him to take a dive for one of their up and comers. For all his poverty, Jack Murdock had honor, though, and refused. Struggle as he might in the grip of one of the thugs, kicking and screaming, Matt could do little as he listened to the men beat his father to death. Catholic orphanages led to nighttime prowls, as he discovered, increasingly, that his sharpened senses were even further enhanced by a new sense, a form of radar which gave him an outline of the world around him, sometimes letting him perceive things even better than his sighted peers. He explored the rooftops of Hell's Kitchen at night, got in plenty of fights with bullies who liked picking on the blind kid ('Daredevil' now a taunt, rather than a badge of pride), and pushing himself at his studies, determined to make his late father proud. The latter he did, earning a full scholarship to NYU and, beyond that, law school and a Ph.D. from Columbia. The law, however, isn't the only thing he studied during those years. Matt found himself approached by a man calling himself Stick. Blind himself, Stick knew of Matt's enhanced senses, even his 'radar', and offered him the opportunity to train in the martial disciplines of his order, the Chaste. As for reasons why, the old man was infuriatingly vague and full of riddles, but Matt took the chance at the training. He proved more than adept, combining his own natural love of gymnastics and raw athleticism with Stick's discipline and expertise. Throw in a bit of the boxing that he'd never given up, and Matt create a style all his own, hard to predict and uniquely suited to his urban environment. Before he was out of law school, he was putting on a makeshift costume and going out to test his skills on the local thugs. The other great event of his college years lay in his romance with Elektra Natchios, a diplomat's daughter and fellow student. Their whirlwind affair ended tragically when Elektra's father was murdered, despite Matt's best efforts to save him. The aftermath would cause Elektra to leave Matt and the world behind to carve her own bloody path of vengeance, one that would lead her back into Matt's life again later, sometimes as a lover, sometimes as a foe. After passing the bar, Matt, along with his best friend from law school, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, set up a firm right back where Matt started: Hell's Kitchen. Top of his class or not, Matt quickly learned he didn't have the heart for big time law, preferring to represent the underprivileged, the abused and the falsely accused. During his studies with Stick, he'd learned to master his own emotions, to balance his need for vengeance with an understanding of justice...and with a compassion for the suffering of others that made him even more determined in his nighttime identity. Formally taking the identity of Daredevil and a bright red costume, Matt has balanced life as hero and lawyer, with mixed results. He has faced some of the cities worst criminals, earning the especial entity of the crime boss known as the Kingpin, facing off with that villain's cadre of assassins, notably the vicious Bullseye, the mad Typhoid and his own former lover, Elektra. His law firm secretary, Karen Page, became another lover, only to leave angrily shortly after discovering his secret identity...a secret she sold to the Kingpin in desperation for a fix after she fell into addiction and disgrace. Despite these setbacks and hurdles, Matt has fought through and carried on, sometimes wounded. He's discovered his mother among the nuns he knows so well, and visits her often on his way to his weekly confession. For, through all of this darkness, the darkness in which he now dwells so easily, Matt Murdock has remained a faithful believer. With the events of the Merge, New York City faced massive damage, some of the worst centered in Hell's Kitchen. Already in bad shape, the neighborhood has become a true nightmare, with dozens of abandoned buildings becoming nests for rats, dealers, pimps and plenty of other kinds of human vermin. For the moment, Matt has given up clients, using all his legal skills to pursue aid and relief for the people of the neighborhood, while fighting for his life every night in streets still littered with rubble. But nothing will make him abandon Hell's Kitchen. Devil or not, the innocent there know they have a friend on the rooftops, a scarlet-clad warrior who'll stop at nothing to keep them safe. They say he can't be intimidated. They call him a Man Without Fear. Personality Matt Murdock has grown a great deal during his career as Daredevil. Beginning as a wreckless, vengeance-minded and savagely violent knight of the streets, he found his love of the work turn him into a laughing swashbuckler for a time, full of witty remarks and sarcasm. When the Kingpin and his assassins began to destroy his life, however, Matt got serious again and, since then, through a combination of self-reflection, his faith and seeing the resolute strength of his friends and allies, Matt has come out all the stronger. Above all things, Matt is a man of discipline and dedication. Once he puts himself to a task, he pursues it with all his heart, indefatigable and relentless. He likes to put himself against the odds and takes a certain wry pleasure in overcoming them. While he's become more serious minded as he's matured, he retains a certain devilish side, with a sarcastic wit and a habit of cutting bullies down to size. Matt hates bullies, always has, and he battles them in the courtroom as much as he does in the streets. Matt has an extremely strong moral sense. He believes in right and wrong, heaven and hell, sin and redemption, in very concrete and real terms. He tries to temper his own anger with compassion, but will nonetheless stand for no corruption and make no compromises when it comes to certain things. Those who take the lives of others, especially, whatever their reasons, will find no sympathy from this devil. Matt Murdock believes in the sanctity of life, all life, even those who've chosen the left hand path to darkness. His mercy, however, should never be mistaken for weakness. With the precision of his skills and senses, he may not be willing to take a life, but he can very easily know how to beat someone within a scant inch of it to make his point. Logs Category:Marvel Features Category:Regular Characters Category:Available Characters Category:Altered Humans Category:Solo Category:1977 Births